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How to Check Why Your Server Is Slow or Not Reachable

This guide gives you simple checks to find out if your server is down, or if it is using too many resources. The commands need SSH access on a VPS or dedicated server.

How-To Guides2 min read11 steps3 screenshots

Two kinds of problems

A server is a computer that hosts your site. Either you cannot reach it at all (an accessibility problem), or it is reachable but slow (a resource problem). Resources are things like CPU (the brain of the computer), RAM (short-term memory) and disk (storage space).

Part 1: Can you reach it?

  1. Open your site in a browser. Try a different network, such as mobile data.
  2. Run ping from your computer:
ping your-server-ip

If you get replies, the server is on.

  1. Try to log in with SSH:
ssh username@your-server-ip
  1. If the site fails but SSH works, the web server program may have stopped. Check it (on Apache):
systemctl status httpd

On Ubuntu the name is apache2. For Nginx use nginx.

  1. If nothing works, check your firewall and the Hostvento client area at the client area. If still stuck, open a ticket.

Part 2: Is it overloaded?

  1. See live use of CPU and memory:
    Check Memory Logs
    Check CPU Usage
top

The top lines show the busiest programs. Press q to leave.

  1. Check memory:
free -m

This shows RAM in megabytes. If "available" is very low, you are running out.

  1. Check disk space:
df -h

If a disk shows 100% use, the server may stop working well.

  1. Find big folders:
du -sh /var/* | sort -h
  1. Check the load average:
uptime

Three numbers show the busyness over 1, 5 and 15 minutes. If they stay higher than your number of CPU cores, the server is overloaded.

  1. Read the newest errors:
tail -n 50 /var/log/messages

On Ubuntu use /var/log/syslog.

What to do next

  • Stop or fix any program that uses too much.
  • Clear old logs and backups to free disk space.
  • Think about upgrading if the load is always high.
Tip: Write down what you see, then send it with a support ticket. It helps Hostvento support help you faster.

Quick recap

  • First decide: unreachable or slow?
  • Use ping, SSH and service status for access.
  • Use top, free, df and uptime for resources.
    Screenshot: Use top, free, df and uptime for resources.
  • Share your findings with support.